Focus on Fruit: A Few Delicious Superfoods

A Few Delicious Superfoods

When one thinks about superfoods, it's typical that vegetables come to mind. Although vegetables do make up a large proportion of the superfoods category, there's no reason not to include a reasonable amount of delicious fruit in your diet. From a delicious slice of apple pie to a brimming bowl of mixed fruit, it's a good idea to eat some fruit every day.

Grapefruit: A Versatile Superfruit

Grapefruit is a citrus fruit that grows widely around the world. It's botanical name is citrus paradisi. Grapefruit actually is a hybrid of sweet orange with pomelo. Pomelo is a natural (non-hybrid) citrus fruit, with the appearance of a big grapefruit, that's native to South and Southeast Asia.

Grapefruit flesh is acidic and naturally segmented; the color varies from white to pink to red, with the redder types generally being sweeter.

With a sharp knife, remove the peel and white pith from grapefruits and discard. Working over a bowl, cut the grapefruit segments from the surrounding membranes, letting them, along with the juice, drop into the bowl. After the segments have been removed, squeeze the remaining membrane to extract more juice. Reserve the segments and the juice separately.

Preheat broiler. Line a broiler pan or baking sheet with foil.

Toss the chicken, dry mustard, garlic powder, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, pepper and salt in a large bowl until the chicken is well coated. Place on the prepared pan in a single layer.

Blueberries: A Delicious Superfruit

In the US, blueberry consumption ranks second only to the strawberry. Popularity aside, blueberries rank high in antioxidant when compared to other fruits, vegetables, spices and seasoning. Blueberries are native to North America and have been used by native Americans for hundreds of years. They're also widely used in other cultures from the Mediterranean to Asia. Here's an unexpectedly novel blueberry recipe.

Blueberry Lemonade

Blueberry syrup:

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 lemon, juiced

Lemonade:

6 cups sugar

24 lemons, juiced

For the blueberry syrup: Put the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce the heat and simmer until thick, 20 to 25 minutes.

Strain the blueberries through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing to get all the liquid out, then place the liquid in the fridge and chill until cold (or place the pan in a bowl of ice to chill down fast).

For the lemonade: Mix the sugar with 6 cups of tap water and stir until the sugar is dissolved to make a simple syrup.

Pour the lemon juice into a large container. Pour in three-quarters of the simple syrup and 8 cups of water. Add the blueberry syrup, stir it around and then give it a taste. Add more simple syrup if it needs sweetness, or more water if it needs dilution. Top up with lots of ice before serving

Pineapple: Exotic and Available

Pineapple is a delicious tropical fruit that you can find just about anywhere. It has a distinct appearance thanks to spike-like foliage that sits on top of the fruit as a sort of crown.

The fruit is sweet and golden in color. They are the only known source of bromelain, an enzyme that has antioxidant properties. Pineapples should be refrigerated for up to 4 days. If the fruit has been cut, place it into an airtight covered container.

Here's a great recipe for pineapple.

Grilled Pineapple

1 medium pineapple

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1⁄8 teaspoon curry powder

1⁄2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt

2 tablespoons toasted coconut

Prepare pineapple by coring, and then removing the top and the skin. Cut pineapple crosswise into six 3/4-inch-thick slices, remove the core. Stir together melted butter, brown sugar and curry powder. Grill pineapple slices on an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 6 to 8 minutes or till heated through, turning once and brushing once or twice with butter mixture. Combine yogurt and coconut. To serve, cut pineapple slices in half. Serve warm with yogurt

Bananas: Humble Yet Versatile

Bananas are a popular fruit that's easy to store and consume, thanks to it's thick, protective skin. It's even thought that bananas may have been the first fruit in the world. Bananas are grown in over 100 countries. The banana has been cultivated and used since ancient times, even pre-dating the cultivation of rice. While the banana thrives in Africa, its origins are said to be East Asia and Oceania. Americans eat more bananas than oranges and apples combined.

Why not try some yummy bananas Foster? A great recipe follows.

Bananas Foster

1 stick salted butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 bananas

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup dark rum

Dash cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar. Stir together and cook for a minute or two. Pour in the cream and stir it around to combine. Peel the bananas and slice them on the bias inside the peel. Drop the slices into the pan. Next, add the chopped nuts and stir them into the sauce. Then gently stir in the rum. Let it start to bubble, and then carefully use a long lighter to ignite it. (Be sure to have a lid handy in case you need to extinguish the flame.) Let the fire burn and go out, about 30 seconds or so), and then stir in the cinnamon at the end. You may also cook the mixture without flambeing it. Spoon it over a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream and enjoy immediately

Both bananas and plantains are low in fat and a good source of fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron, and folic acid. The pulp and peel of the ripe banana have anti-microbial properties against certain types of bacteria and some say that the inside of the peel is also good for treating mild cases of sunburn. The sugars in ripe bananas provide a quick source of energy.

Regardless of what superfruit you choose, try to consume it daily. That's the best way to reap the all the benefits of these delicious, yet widely available fruits.